editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Shankar VedantamThu, 13 Jul 2017 09:32:19 +0000Shankar Vedantamhttp://nhpr.org
Shankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: Here's a question - have you ever done a really big workout at the gym, then gone home and gorged yourself on the first unhealthy thing you can find? New research explores why you chose to do that. NPR's social science correspondent, Shankar Vedantam, is here to explain. Shankar, I know none of this. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: (Laughter). MARTIN: I've never ever done this - worked out and then pigged out. I mean, this is - I do this constantly. And I feel like I've just worked out, and so why can't I have a double cheeseburger? VEDANTAM: That's exactly right. Now, researchers have a term for this, Rachel. They call it licensing. And we've actually talked about other examples on the show. I was talking to Aaron Garvey. He's a consumer psychologist at the University of Kentucky. Here's how he described the phenomenon to me. AARON GARVEY: Whenever somebody does something virtuous, they then feel liberated to go and pursue thingsPain Before Pleasure Makes The Pleasure Even Better, Study Findshttp://nhpr.org/post/pain-pleasure-makes-pleasure-even-better-study-finds
111986 as http://nhpr.orgMon, 10 Jul 2017 09:08:00 +0000Pain Before Pleasure Makes The Pleasure Even Better, Study FindsShankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: So many studies have found that early childhood education makes a big difference in the lives of youngsters, we collectively consider it so important. Given that, you might expect that child care providers would be actively looking for teachers who are highly qualified. But new research shows something different. And Shankar Vedantam, NPR's social science correspondent, is here to tell us about it. Hi, Shankar. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Hi, Steve. INSKEEP: What do you mean child care providers don't want the best teachers? VEDANTAM: Well, this comes from a very interesting study conducted by Chris Herbst at Arizona State University, Steve. Along with Casey Boyd-Swan, Herbst conducted what's called a resume audit study. The researchers responded to ads for child care teachers in 14 cities - cities like Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle - big cities around the country. TheyChild Care Centers Often Don't Hire The Most Qualified Teachers, Study Showshttp://nhpr.org/post/child-care-centers-often-dont-hire-most-qualified-teachers-study-shows
111433 as http://nhpr.orgWed, 28 Jun 2017 09:04:00 +0000Child Care Centers Often Don't Hire The Most Qualified Teachers, Study ShowsShankar VedantamTurn on the TV, and you'll find no shortage of people who claim to know what's going to happen: who's going to get picked for the NBA draft, who will win the next election, which stocks will go up or down. These pundits and prognosticators all have an air of certainty. And why shouldn't they? We, as the audience, like to hear the world's complexity distilled into simple, pithy accounts. It doesn't help that these commentators rarely pay a serious price when their predictions don't pan out. Lurking in the background are scores of ordinary people who do a much better job of predicting the future than the so-called experts. They're the subject of the book, Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction , co-authored by psychologist Phil Tetlock and journalist Dan Gardner. For years, Tetlock and his team of non-experts — among them, a retired irrigation specialist and former ballroom dancer — competed against the government's top intelligence officers in a forecasting tournament. TheDegrees of Maybe: How We Can All Make Better Predictionshttp://nhpr.org/post/degrees-maybe-how-we-can-all-make-better-predictions
111356 as http://nhpr.orgTue, 27 Jun 2017 01:00:00 +0000Degrees of Maybe: How We Can All Make Better PredictionsShankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: Police in London have identified the driver of the van that drove into a group of Muslims outside a mosque yesterday. He is Darren Osborne, a 47-year-old white male. And that profile may be significant in how the media covered the attack. New social science research in the U.S. suggests that in incidents like this, the identity of the attacker has an impact on coverage. NPR's social science correspondent Shankar Vedantam explains. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: I was speaking with Erin Kearns. She's a criminologist at Georgia State University. Along with her colleagues Allison Betus and Anthony Lemieux, Kearns studied all terrorist attacks in the United States between 2011 and 2015. She found very stark differences in coverage. ERIN KEARNS: When the perpetrator is Muslim, you can expect that attack to receive about four and a half times more media coverage than if the perpetrator was not Muslim. You see that - perpetrator who isHidden Brain: Terror Strikes And An Attacker's Identity http://nhpr.org/post/hidden-brain-terror-attacks
110985 as http://nhpr.orgTue, 20 Jun 2017 09:07:00 +0000Hidden Brain: Terror Strikes And An Attacker's Identity Shankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit LAKSHMI SINGH, HOST: We tend to like stories of leaders who have big ideas and strong convictions, the kind of visionaries who stop at nothing in pursuing their goals. But what happens when a leader's vision is the wrong one? NPR's Shankar Vedantam brings us the story of an ambitious surgeon who was a pioneer in his field and also made a grave mistake. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: From a very early age, Don Laub was driven by a big idea. He wanted to help people. He wanted to help a lot of people. As a small child, when kids in high school were asked to donate money to a charity, his classmates contribution a dime. Don worked in a vegetable garden an entire summer to raise a whopping $10. DON LAUB: Now, I got a letter that my mother wrote for some of her friends saying Don has done something that nobody has ever done. VEDANTAM: Don's father feared his little boy was consumed with being a do-gooder and would turn out to be a failure in business. HisThe Triumphs And Perils Of 'Going Big'http://nhpr.org/post/what-happens-when-leaders-vision-wrong-one
110566 as http://nhpr.orgSun, 11 Jun 2017 21:46:00 +0000The Triumphs And Perils Of 'Going Big'Shankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: So when you recycle paper or an empty bottle, do you get that warm little feeling because maybe you think, hey, I've done something right for the world? Well, maybe you shouldn't get that feeling because there's some new social science research out there that suggests recycling can have a downside. Why are you always bringing negative news? SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: (Laughter). MARTIN: Shankar Vedantam, NPR social science correspondent, here to rain on our recycling parade. Hi, Shankar. VEDANTAM: Hi, Rachel. MARTIN: So recycling is bad? VEDANTAM: No, recycling isn't bad. It's actually very good, Rachel. But in fact, that's where the problem lies. Recycling is so good that it makes us feel virtuous, and that can lead to problematic outcomes. Let me back up and explain. I was talking to Remi Trudel. He's a marketing professor at Boston University. He told me he was having lunch at a restaurant with his colleague, Monic Sun, whenWhy Recycling Options Lead People To Waste Morehttp://nhpr.org/post/why-recycling-options-lead-people-waste-more
110117 as http://nhpr.orgFri, 02 Jun 2017 09:02:00 +0000Why Recycling Options Lead People To Waste MoreShankar VedantamThe Greek poet Archilochus wrote, "the fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." There are many different interpretations of this parable, but psychologist Phil Tetlock argues it's a way of understanding two cognitive styles: Foxes have different strategies for different problems. They are comfortable with nuance, they can live with contradictions. Hedgehogs, on the other hand, focus on the big picture. They reduce every problem to one organizing principle. "The hedgehogs are more the big idea people, more decisive. In most MBA programs, they'd probably be viewed as better leadership material," Tetlock says. This week, we have the story of a hedgehog by the name of Don Laub: a young surgeon who was eager to make his mark. In his words, he wanted to "do a big thing, and help a lot of people." One day, Don got his chance when a colleague asked him if he could help with a surgery. The patient was a child from Mexico with a cleft lip and palate, and the surgery wasThe Fox And The Hedgehog: The Triumphs And Perils Of Going Bighttp://nhpr.org/post/fox-and-hedgehog-triumphs-and-perils-going-big
109259 as http://nhpr.orgTue, 16 May 2017 01:00:00 +0000The Fox And The Hedgehog: The Triumphs And Perils Of Going BigShankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: We have a revelation this morning about how people spread disease. You've seen this happen - your co-worker gets sick and then you do. Well, this is a story about malaria, which is spread by mosquitoes. But in some places, it appears that the mosquitoes have help from human illegal activity. NPR's social science correspondent Shankar Vedantam is here with a story of crime and illness. Hi, Shankar. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Hi, Steve. INSKEEP: Sounds like a newly discovered novel by Dostoyevsky, but go on. Go on. VEDANTAM: (Laughter) Well, this piece of social science research actually does read a little bit like the plot of a novel, Steve. I was speaking with Sandra Rozo. She's an economist at the University of Southern California. She told me that on visits to Colombia, she noticed newspaper stories that drew a connection between two very different things - illegal gold mines and malaria. INSKEEP: Illegal gold mines - what'sHow Illegal Gold Mining Relates To The Spread Of Malariahttp://nhpr.org/post/how-illegal-gold-mining-relates-spread-malaria
108955 as http://nhpr.orgWed, 10 May 2017 08:54:00 +0000How Illegal Gold Mining Relates To The Spread Of MalariaShankar VedantamAmericans have long expressed their political views with their wallets, but in recent months, this phenomenon has made national news. A campaign called #grabyourwallet has targeted brands affiliated with Donald Trump. And the Trump camp has responded in kind, with one of his closest aides encouraging people to support his daughter Ivanka's brand. Neeru Paharia is a researcher at Georgetown University , and she says this kind of economic activity can make us feel powerful. "It seems like people are a little fed up and disillusioned with conventional political channels," Paharia says. "In the absence of that legitimacy there has been sort of a rise in political consumerism." We might think that we use money mostly to satisfy economic needs, but Paharia has found in her research that we often aim to satisfy psychological ones — whether that means driving a fancy car to show off our social status, or buying coffee at the local shop instead of a chain to express our moral values. But whileBoycotts And Buycotts: How We Use Money To Express Ourselves http://nhpr.org/post/boycotts-and-buycotts-how-we-use-money-express-ourselves
108176 as http://nhpr.orgTue, 25 Apr 2017 01:01:00 +0000Boycotts And Buycotts: How We Use Money To Express Ourselves Shankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit DAVID GREENE, HOST: And so if you are taking part in a protest, is your message getting out? Are you having an impact? It turns out what you think is happening might not be reality. And let's talk about that with NPR's social science correspondent, Shankar Vedantam, who's back in our studios. Hey, Shankar. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Hi, David. GREENE: So what are these researchers actually testing here? VEDANTAM: Well, the researchers wanted to study what happens when people protest. We all have intuitions about the effectiveness of protests, and protesters certainly have those intuitions as well. This was an attempt to actually measure whether those intuitions were accurate. I was speaking with Robb Willer. He's a sociologist and psychologist at Stanford University. Along with his colleagues, Matthew Feinberg and Chloe Kovacheff, Willer found that many protesters tend to equate being effective with getting a lot of attention from the public andResearchers Examine The Psychology Of Protest Movementshttp://nhpr.org/post/researchers-examine-psychology-protest-movements
107835 as http://nhpr.orgTue, 18 Apr 2017 09:04:00 +0000Researchers Examine The Psychology Of Protest MovementsShankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: It is the season for college admissions letters to go out, which means students from across the country are frantically checking their mailboxes or inboxes in their email. If this year, though, is anything like years past, we'll continue to see a dearth of low-income students admitted to the most selective colleges. New social science research suggests a possible solution, and to explain, we're joined by NPR's social science correspondent Shankar Vedantam. Hi, Shankar. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Hi, Rachel. MARTIN: All right. What does the new research say? VEDANTAM: Well, there have been a ton of attempts to try and increase the representation of low-income students in college, Rachel. I was speaking to Michael Bastedo. He's a professor of education at the University of Michigan. He told me a lot of efforts to get more low-income students to college has focused on the students themselves. How do you get them to apply? How doHow To Get Low-Income Students Into Selective Collegeshttp://nhpr.org/post/how-get-low-income-students-selective-colleges
107552 as http://nhpr.orgWed, 12 Apr 2017 09:15:00 +0000How To Get Low-Income Students Into Selective CollegesShankar VedantamImagine a concrete room, not much bigger than a parking space. No window. You're in there 23 hours a day, 7 days a week; you don't know when you'll get out of this room. A month? A year? A decade? Our minds don't do well with that kind of solitude and uncertainty. Keramet Reiter , a criminology professor at UC Irvine, has spent more than a decade researching solitary confinement. In her new book, "23/7: Pelican Bay Prison and the Rise of Long-Term Solitary Confinement," she writes about the lives of people who end up in solitary units, some for years. Reiter says inmates living in isolation crave things we might take for granted, such as the touch of another person or the sight of the moon. They often find it hard to differentiate one day from the next, because the lights are always on in their cells. Tracking weeks, months, or even years often becomes difficult. In recent years, both liberals and conservatives – worried about the psychological and financial costs of long-term solitaryInside The Hole: What Happens To The Mind In Isolation?http://nhpr.org/post/inside-hole-what-happens-mind-isolation
107157 as http://nhpr.orgTue, 04 Apr 2017 13:49:39 +0000Inside The Hole: What Happens To The Mind In Isolation?Shankar VedantamWhen we think about dishonesty, we mostly think about the big stuff. We see big scandals, big lies, and we think to ourselves, I could never do that . We think we're fundamentally different from Bernie Madoff or Tiger Woods. But behind big lies are a series of small deceptions. Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, writes about this in his book The Honest Truth about Dishonesty . "One of the frightening conclusions we have is that what separates honest people from not-honest people is not necessarily character, it's opportunity," he said. These small lies are quite common . When we lie, it's not always a conscious or rational choice. We want to lie and we want to benefit from our lying, but we want to be able to look in the mirror and see ourselves as good, honest people . We might go a little too fast on the highway, or pocket extra change at a gas station, but we're still mostly honest ... right? That's why Ariely describes honesty asEverybody Lies, And That's Not Always A Bad Thinghttp://nhpr.org/post/everybody-lies-and-thats-not-always-bad-thing
106809 as http://nhpr.orgTue, 28 Mar 2017 15:47:48 +0000Everybody Lies, And That's Not Always A Bad ThingShankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit DAVID GREENE, HOST: All right. We've been hearing a lot about the Republican plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. Let's turn now to NPR's social science correspondent Shankar Vedantam to talk about some research that gives us a new data point in this conversation. Hey, Shankar. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Hi, David. GREENE: So what is the new data point? VEDANTAM: Well, it has to do with expansions of Medicaid under the ACA and its effect on the divorce rate. Let me back up and explain. The ACA said that if you were too poor to buy insurance but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, you could now get coverage under an expansion of Medicaid. Many states signed up because the federal government promised to pick up most of the costs for this Medicaid expansion. But many states, mostly states governed by Republicans, did not. The political wrangling produced a research opportunity, according to David Slusky, an economist I spoke to at theThe Affordable Care Act, Medicaid And Divorcehttp://nhpr.org/post/affordable-care-act-medicaid-and-divorce
105822 as http://nhpr.orgWed, 08 Mar 2017 10:05:00 +0000The Affordable Care Act, Medicaid And DivorceShankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: Researchers think they've found a way to fight racial discrimination on Airbnb. You know, that's the service where you go online and rent somebody else's home when you're traveling. Airbnb has been criticized because hosts on this platform are found less likely to rent their homes to African-Americans than to white guests. NPR's social science correspondent Shankar Vedantam joins us regularly on this program, and he has some new research that may point to a solution. Hi, Shankar. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Hi, Steve. INSKEEP: So remind us here, how do they find bias in the first place? VEDANTAM: There have been multiple studies about this, Steve. The most recent one comes from Dennis Zhang. He's a business researcher at Washington University in St. Louis. He recently sent out hundreds of housing requests to Airbnb hosts in Chicago, Seattle and Boston. As with previous studies along these lines, the requests were identical butNew Research Looks At Ways To Help Stop Airbnb Racial Discriminationhttp://nhpr.org/post/new-research-looks-ways-help-stop-airbnb-racial-discrimination
105540 as http://nhpr.orgThu, 02 Mar 2017 10:08:00 +0000New Research Looks At Ways To Help Stop Airbnb Racial DiscriminationShankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit DAVID GREENE, HOST: Thousands of pedestrians in the United States are killed each year in traffic accidents. And researchers have noticed that people of color are more likely than whites to be victims. To understand what might be happening here, we're joined by NPR's social science correspondent Shankar Vedantam. Shankar, welcome back. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: Hi, David. GREENE: So what is explaining this disparity? VEDANTAM: Well, researchers have been trying to tease apart this question for quite some time, David. Why are people of color as a proportion to their share of the population more likely to be pedestrian fatalities in these car crashes? There are lots of possible explanations. One is that people of color are just more likely to be pedestrians, or it might be that minority neighborhoods have less safe traffic intersections. I was speaking with Courtney Coughenour. She's a public health researcher at the University of Nevada in LasResearchers Examine Race Factor In Car Crashes Involving Pedestrianshttp://nhpr.org/post/researchers-examine-race-factor-car-crashes-involving-pedestrians
104797 as http://nhpr.orgWed, 15 Feb 2017 10:10:00 +0000Researchers Examine Race Factor In Car Crashes Involving PedestriansShankar VedantamThis week, we're returning to our archives to grapple with the troubling history of medical experimentation on African Americans and how that history connects to the unequal medical care African Americans still receive today. Black patients continue to receive less pain medication for broken bones and cancer. Black children receive less pain medication that white children for appendicitis. One reason for this is that many people inaccurately believe that blacks literally have thicker skin than whites and experience less pain . The failure to recognize the pain of black patients can be tracked far back in the history of American medicine. Dr. James Marion Sims, a 19th-century physician, has been dubbed the father of modern gynecology. He's honored by three statues across the United States, one of which describes him as treating both empresses and slave women. This week, we consider what — and whom — this inscription leaves out. Invisible in his shadow are the enslaved women on whom heRemembering Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey: The Mothers of Modern Gynecologyhttp://nhpr.org/post/remembering-anarcha-lucy-and-betsey-mothers-modern-gynecology-0
104387 as http://nhpr.orgTue, 07 Feb 2017 05:00:00 +0000Remembering Anarcha, Lucy, and Betsey: The Mothers of Modern GynecologyShankar VedantamCopyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit DAVID GREENE, HOST: And, you know, all over the world people say they make friends by breaking bread together. There's this assumption that when you sit down to eat with one another, you become closer. Well, let's talk about that with NPR social science correspondent Shankar Vedantam, who is going to break bread with me. Hey, Shankar. SHANKAR VEDANTAM, BYLINE: (Laughter) Hi, David. How are you? GREENE: We've broken bread. We're already friends. VEDANTAM: Indeed. GREENE: Well, so what's this research you're looking at? VEDANTAM: Well, sitting down to eat together, David, obviously means you're sharing another person's company, but there's also something else. When you eat together, one thing that happens is that you're usually eating the same food as the other person. I was talking to Ayelet Fishbach at the University of Chicago. She told me that food has symbolic meaning all around the world. AYELET FISHBACH: I think that food really connectsWhy Eating The Same Food Increases People's Trust And Cooperationhttp://nhpr.org/post/why-eating-same-food-increases-peoples-trust-and-cooperation
104173 as http://nhpr.orgThu, 02 Feb 2017 09:57:00 +0000Why Eating The Same Food Increases People's Trust And CooperationShankar VedantamPresident Donald Trump's decision to temporarily ban immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries and refugees from across the globe has set off a firestorm of protest. In airports and city streets across the U.S. and beyond, people turned out by the thousands over the weekend to protest the action. In tense times, we often turn to history to understand events such as these. While we can and should learn from the past to inform our present, scholars say this process can be fraught with psychological peril. We're often inclined to draw lessons from history that suit our preconceived notions. In recent days, many people have reached for the story of the SS St. Louis. It's a story you may be familiar with: In 1939, a ship full of Jewish refugees was turned away when it reached the shores of Cuba and then the United States. This week we speak with historian Deborah Lipstadt, a professor of religion at Emory University. She researches the Holocaust and the global response to JewishFortress America: What We Can — And Can't — Learn From Historyhttp://nhpr.org/post/fortress-america-what-we-can-and-cant-learn-history
104040 as http://nhpr.orgTue, 31 Jan 2017 05:00:00 +0000Fortress America: What We Can — And Can't — Learn From HistoryShankar VedantamResearchers have long been confused by what seems like a paradox: many people in America vote against their economic self-interests. Whether it's the working class conservative who wants a tax cut for the wealthy, or a member of the liberal elite who fights for safety nets that raise his own taxes — we don't always act in the way that would help us the most. In her new book, Strangers in Their Own Land , sociologist Arlie Hochschild tackles this paradox. She says that while people might vote against their economic needs, they're actually voting to serve their emotional needs. Hochschild says that both conservative and liberals have "deep stories" — about who they are, and what their values are. Deep stories don't need to be completely accurate, but they have to feel true. They're the stories we tell ourselves to capture our hopes, pride, disappointments, fears, and anxieties. Hochschild spent years in Louisiana trying to understand the deep stories of conservative, white, heterosexual,Strangers in Their Own Land: The 'Deep Story' of Trump Supportershttp://nhpr.org/post/strangers-their-own-land-deep-story-trump-supporters
103724 as http://nhpr.orgTue, 24 Jan 2017 05:00:00 +0000Strangers in Their Own Land: The 'Deep Story' of Trump Supporters